www.iva.co.uk

well, I am back online again after nearly 2 weeks with no internet! We have moved into our rented house, its lovely and such a relief not to have the phone constantly ringing and being hassled with all the creditors! We are finally clearer now in what we must do, I have had a talk with the solicitor selling our house and they said that they have means to force Picture Finance to allow the sale so it really does not matter what they say about blocking a sale! anyway, the solicitors want their fees upfront, (£2,000) as because of the legal charges on the house, these will have to be paid first and there will be no money left for the estate agent/solicitor's fee, unfortunately we have no way of getting this kind of money, we are going to try and save for it but this will take about 10 months! The only way forward I can see is for Northern Rock to repossess the house, I have actually written to them today informing them of the situation and that we cannot continue to pay the mortgage as we are now paying rent and saving for the solicitor's fees.

I have sorted all our finances out and really, I have realised the IVA is not an option, I feel really disappointed about this, but our disposable income every month is about £210, the IVA wanted £420 rising to £835 in the final 18 months, there is just no way this is feasible, we have been living very basically for a while already and I cannot face 6 more years of things being even tighter! They did not allow for my job ending in 18 months and Child Benefit for 2 children will be ending then as well! I think we have to just stick things out until either the house is sold or repossessed, whichever happens first, I just wish it could be sorted quickly, but I bet it will take a while. We will then have to petition for bankruptcy, I think. (scarey!)

I have applied for council housing but am not very hopeful, but I really like the house we are renting at the moment, I just hope, when it comes to bankruptcy, the landlord will be understanding about it!

Hi Jane - we were wondering what had happened to you.

Can I say firstly how nice it is to see you so positive. We were all quite worried about you at the time, and you seem so more able to deal with issues now. They do say a change of scene is good therapy, and you can now see that that house was a millstone around your neck. You also have other things to focus the mind on now, such as settling the family in, and of course these become far more important than worrying about a few debts.

Look at Skippy's recent posts (and I am sure she will be soon along to give you her first hand experience of the recent bankruptcy proceedings she entered into). This will give you the opportunity to make a complete fresh start, and do remember that day 1 of a bankruptcy is the first day towards regaining all of those things you feel you have lost, such as holidays, family time ane perhaps buying another house eventually.

Don't even think about council housing if you like the house you are living in, and all the landlord will be concerned about is that you are paying the rent.

So pleased that you are moving forward - I feel sure that you will end up being one of the success stories of this forum just like Skippy is now! Good luck!

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

Hi Jane really pleased you seem so much more positive,and i realise you still have other issues to deal with,but faceing up to all these problems took so much courage,and moveing out of your family home,but you have accomplished this and now i hope the future will have more ups than downs for you and your family
Lovely to hear from you keep posting.We All keep each other sane xx

Hi Jane
So glad to see your post and that you have found a way forward.All the very best to you and your family in your new home and as with most of us we have all been in that deep pit of debt and all have felt so low as you did, things are on the up and I am sure they will continue that way for you.

All the very best. Keep posting.

Ang x

Hi Jane, I petitioned for my own bankruptcy on 29th March, and to be honest, I wish I had done it back in August when I first looked into my options. My situation is probably more straightforward than yours as I have no assets, but if I were you I wouldn't discount BR. I was treated with kindness and compassion by the people at the court, and the OR was efficient but understanding. I had my telephone interview with the OR yesterday, and despite nearly being sick beforehand it was nowhere near as bad as I expected! As I have surplus income I will be paying into an IPA for three years, but only a quarter of what I was paying into my IVA. I have updated my blog today and I have listed the allowances that I have - they are much more realistic than my IVA.

Good luck for the future Jane, and please keep posting to let us know how you get on.

Onwards and upwards!!!

View my blog at http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/

Hi Jane

I'd just like to echo Melanie's comments that you sound so much more positive in your post today.

As well as wishing you luck I think its relevant that a few of the posts recently have been about this growing trend for companies to lend more than 100% LTV.

Always remember that your situation was allowed to happen because somebody authorised a loan to you higher than the value of your property and it was this that mainly caused you to find yourself in a situation you couldn't win no matter how hard you tried.

You were willing to downsize and lined up a buyer but greed stopped the sale. Let them fight it out amongst themselves and check out Skippy's blog. Look forward not back.

Best wishes

Dave